Sarah Onyango Obama
Sarah Onyango Obama | |
---|---|
Born | Sarah Okech 1921 or 1922 |
Died | March 29, 2021 Kisumu, Kenya | (aged 98–99)
Known for | Mama Sarah Obama Foundation; U.S. President Barack Obama's step-grandmother |
Spouse |
Hussein Onyango Obama
(m. 1941; died 1979) |
Children | 4; including Zeituni Onyango |
Sarah Onyango Obama (1922 – March 29, 2021) was a Kenyan educator and philanthropist. She was the third wife of Hussein Onyango Obama, the paternal grandmother of U.S. president Barack Obama[1] and helped raise his father, Barack Obama Sr.[2][3] She was known by her short name as Sarah Obama and was sometimes referred to as Sarah Ogwel, Sarah Hussein Obama, or Sarah Anyango Obama.[4] She lived in Nyang'oma Kogelo village, 48 km (30 miles) west of western Kenya's main city, Kisumu, on the edge of Lake Victoria.[5][6][7]
Biography
As a young woman, Sarah Obama helped raise her stepson Barack Obama Sr. She was a firm believer in quality early education and regularly took him on her bicycle to primary school so that he could get the education she had been denied.[8]
She first met her step grandson,
During the U.S. presidential campaign of 2008, she protested attempts to portray Obama as a foreigner to the United States or as a Muslim, saying that while Obama's grandfather had been a Muslim, "In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents."[11] At one point in her life, she worked as a cook for Christian missionaries,[2] but Sarah Obama was "a strong believer of the Islamic faith", in her words.[12] On July 4, 2008, she attended the United States Independence Day celebrations in Nairobi, hosted by Michael Ranneberger, the U.S. ambassador in Kenya.[13] The following year, she attended Barack Obama's first presidential inauguration.[3]
In 2010, she created the Mama Sarah Obama Foundation to provide food and education to orphans, even sheltering some of them in her home.[3][9]
On the occasion of the inaugural
On March 29, 2021 it was announced that Mama Sarah had died at the age of 99,
References
- ^ Oywa, John (August 15, 2004). "Kenya: Special Report: Sleepy Little Village Where Obama Traces His Own Roots (Page 2 of 2)". allAfrica.com. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Princewill, Nimi (March 29, 2021). "Barack Obama's step-grandmother and family matriarch 'Mama Sarah' dies in Kenya". CNN.
- ^ a b c d Odula, Tom (March 29, 2021). "'Mama Sarah,' the Obama family matriarch in Kenya, dies at 99". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
- ^ a b Crilly, Rob (February 27, 2008). "Dreams from Obama's Grandmother". Time Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
- ^ Pflanz, Mike (January 11, 2008). "Barack Obama's Kenyan relatives keep faith". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on April 16, 2008.
- ^ Fornek, Scott (September 9, 2007). "Sarah Obama – 'Sparkling, laughing eyes'". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ "In Kenya, Barack Obama's family prays for end to conflict – Times Online". The Times. London. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ^ "Transforming Children". Leaders Online. LEADERS Magazine, LLC. January 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ a b Treisman, Rachel (March 29, 2021). "Remembering Mama Sarah: Philanthropist And Obama Family Matriarch Dies In Kenya At 99". npr. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
- ^ "Barack Obama in Kenya". CNN.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Houreld, Katharine (March 5, 2008). "Obama's grandma slams 'untruths'". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved May 2, 2010. See also this correction.
- ^ Kantor, Jodi (April 30, 2007). "A Candidate, His Minister and the Search for Faith". The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ^ Daily Nation, July 8, 2008: "Obama granny's day out with envoys and top politicians" Archived July 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Daily Nation, July 8, 2008
- ^ "Obama's Step-Grandmother Continues Educating Young Kenyans", NPR (November 22, 2014).
- ^ Sokol, Lori (December 23, 2014). "Why Women Entrepreneurs Matter". Huffpost. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Okuoro, Sara (March 29, 2021). "Mama Sarah Obama is dead". standardmedia.co.ke. Retrieved March 29, 2021.